2019-01-03

Kazakh police officer fired over New Year video message

ASTANA -- A Kazakh police officer has been fired for calling his country's police a "gang" in his New Year's video greeting December 31, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported Thursday (January 3).

The officer, identified as A. R. Tastaibekov by the Interior Ministry (MVD), used criminal jargon and suggested corruption in law enforcement.

Tastaibekov, the deputy chief of the first-year cadets' section at the Police Academy in Karaganda, was fired for "committing an action that discredits the civil service" and his supervisors were reprimanded, MVD spokesman Almas Sadubayev wrote on Facebook Thursday.

In a video that went viral, Tastaibekov wished for "prosperity to Kazakhstan, so that our bratva [a criminal gang] and our successors in the seventh generation can continue using our connections".

"Let Kazakhstan and our families flourish. Hurrah, comrades!"

Dozens of men wearing police uniforms ended the video with a chorus of "Hurrah!"